Report to Readers: When it comes to inaugural front pages, we’re among the best

When big news happens, it’s always fun to see how other newspapers treat it. Today, the website BuzzFeed did that work for us. Journalists there collected what they considered the best front pages about the presidential inauguration from across the country. And here’s the best part: the Monitor made the list.

Check it out: You’ll find us just below the Reno Gazette Journal, just above AM New York. The list appears to be alphabetical, by state.

A presidential inauguration presents a particular sort of challenge for front-page designers: The news is expected, it typically plays out just the way you’d imagine and – especially for a local newspaper like the Monitor – most of the content available to you is generated elsewhere by others.

Jana Ford is the A1 editor who put the page together Monday night for the Monitor’s Tuesday morning edition. Her design is simple, clean and powerful. What made it extra cool, to my eyes, was the unusual photograph that Alexander Cohn, the Monitor photo editor, suggested for the lead spot. The more typical image, of course, was President Obama delivering his address – his face close to a microphone, family and dignitaries by his side. We’ve seen a version of that 1,000 times. Instead, Cohn suggested an unlikely picture of Obama exiting the stage through red curtains which framed the shot. It almost looked like he was on some sort of vaudeville stage. Through the curtain you can see the sea of people behind him, an arresting image that no doubt made readers linger longer than they might typically.

Check out the others, and see what you think. Among my favorites: Honolulu and Burlington, Vt.